


Inkless

by thepiedownthehall



Series: Lotura Week 2018 [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Lotura Week 2018, Soulmate AU, but with a twist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-29 04:08:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15064817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepiedownthehall/pseuds/thepiedownthehall
Summary: Everyone in the world waits for that bloom of ink on their skin. Everyone waits to see their soulmate.Most everyone.





	Inkless

Dim lights, soft music, low chatter, drink in hand.

 

Lotor was used to this. Used to the darkness of the bar, the burn of the alcohol, the slight weight of his drink in his hand. Girls flirting with him, before he glanced at their arms, and they burned with embarrassment and walked away. There were always a rare few that didn’t care if their arms were covered in messages from their soulmates.

 

Then of course there were the ones without someone answering their messages. The ones who came to the bar, like him, to numb their sorrows, to drown themselves when the joy in everyone else’s eyes when they saw messages from their soulmates became too much for them to bear.

 

Those were the times when Lotor stumbled into the bar, his arms covered in scribbles that ranged from pleading to angry, skin red from angry scrubbing, blue ink smeared all over his forearms as he tried to get someone,  _anyone_ to answer his pleads.

 

Those were the times when he found someone else to hide his sorrows, someone who didn’t care if their soulmate realized they were being unfaithful, who was confident enough that their soulmate wouldn’t find out, who didn’t have a soulmate themselves. The times when he went to sleep wanting something else than just sex, when he wanted someone to wake up next to him, looking happy, looking like they were home and there was no where else they wanted to be.

 

Even his father got a soulmate, Lotor thought bitterly. Who decided _he_ didn’t.

 

He started wearing long sleeves long ago. He didn’t want pitiful looks or blatant stares when they saw that his skin was bare of any messages.

 

_He’s one of those poor souls. The ones that can never find anyone to love._

 

He always found that ridiculous. Of course he could find someone to love. He had before. He could just never have anyone to love him back.

 

_____

 

Allura never let herself go to bars or clubs. It had been drilled into her head as soon as she was old enough: _as much as it might hurt, alcohol and sex are never good things to turn to. It’s better to let out your pain some other way._

 

But sometimes it got hard.

 

When she saw Lance or Shiro smile down at their arms as their soulmates sent them stupid messages or love notes and she could never look at her own skin without seeing the blankness. Without reminding herself that she would never see doodles, or scribbles, or anything on her skin. Not from a soulmate.

 

When she was a little girl she didn’t really understand. She thought that maybe her soulmate didn’t know how to write. Maybe the magic or whatever was behind the messages that got sent between soulmates didn’t work with her, and the messages never got sent to the person she was destined to be with. Maybe her soulmate just didn’t understand english and couldn’t answer.

 

She realized when she was around 12 that she was just one of the unlucky few without them. She stopped scribbling on her arms desperately. She started wearing long sleeves and pants unless she was with someone she trusted. In high school she started doodling on her arms again, hoping to trick people into thinking that she was communicating with someone.

 

“I know you don’t have a soulmate. I see you writing both messages during class,” one girl said while she was washing her hands in the bathroom. “You can’t fool me.”

 

Allura raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” was all she said, before walking out the bathroom quickly.

 

It had been four years since that encounter, and she still couldn’t get it out of her head. Especially now when she saw how happy her friends were with their soulmates, when she saw the head over heels couples in the streets.

 

Then she saw one of her friends post a picture of her 3 year old son smiling as he saw some scribbles on his wrist and she decided she needed a drink.

  
Desperately.

 

_____

 

“What brings you here?”

 

Lotor snapped out of his daze, raising an eyebrow as the woman with the white hair turned to him, taking a swig of her own drink. She was pretty, young, with delicate features. She carried herself like she was royalty, but he could see the exhaustion and pain in her eyes. His interest was peaked. He knew that look. He saw it every time he looked in the mirror.

 

“Alcohol helps you forget your problems,” he said, being honest for once. She snorted. “I hope so. I need it,” she murmured.

 

Lotor held out his hand. “I’m Lotor.”

 

She shook his hand. “Allura.”

 

“What problems are you trying to forget then, Allura?” he said, leaning back against the countertop, looking down at her. She shifted in her seat. “Soulmate issues,” she said vaguely. Lotor hummed. “Not a lot of people come here because of that. But it’s nice to know i’m not the only one here because of it.”

 

Allura cocked an eyebrow. “You’re here because of your Soulmate?”

 

“Well, not really. I can’t be here because of something that doesn’t exist.”

 

“Y-.” Allura looked taken aback. “You don’t have a soulmate?”

 

Lotor shrugged, not even knowing why he was telling her this. “No, I don’t. Never had one.”  
  
And instantly Lotor regretted it when he saw Allura’s gape. _How could I be so stupid?_

 

“Nevermind, forget about it. It was nice to meet you,” he said, setting his drink down, ready to leave. He didn’t need someone else staring at him pitifully.

 

“No wait!” He felt a warm hand wrap around his fingers. “It’s… I never met anyone else like me,” she said quietly.

 

Lotor turned around, surprised. “You don’t have a soulmate either?”

 

She nodded, giving him a soft smile.

 

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

**Author's Note:**

> For Lotura Week 2018, using the prompt Soulmates.


End file.
